Sandra Dodd

-=-I have 7 children between the ages of 10 months and 13 years this is my first year of unschooling and I am feeling like a failure. Like I can not meet any ones needs. We adopted our 7th child (preemie)in July of 2010 and she was very sick throughout the fall and winter with Pertussis. This narrowed my focus to only her left the others to "educate" themselves. "They" are doing great, but I have nothing for the portfolios, and I am a little panicked. I would love words of support or wisdom from large families who are choosing to unschool. -=-

I let this through with my finger on the "return" button. The author just joined today, and that's too soon to post.

What I did want to say was that this is not a support group, it's a discussion group, and that's an important aspect of the discussion.

Support looks like this:
http://sandradodd.com/support

Discussion looks like this:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlwaysLearning/ (Read that *and its links* before posting again, please--and any other new members, read it too.)
http://sandradodd.com/lists/alwayslearning

The list isn't about portfolios, but about how learning works. For particulars about laws, find people in your own state, province or country (as applicable). Some are listed here:
http://sandradodd.com/world

Sandra



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plaidpanties666

> -=-I have 7 children between the ages of 10 months and 13 years this is my first year of unschooling and I am feeling like a failure. Like I can not meet any ones needs.
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If you're really not meeting their needs, just letting things slide and hoping for the best, that's not unschooling. Unschooling takes a good bit of engagement with your kids. If you've abandoned six children to their own devices for the winter, consider getting a mothers helper or some extra care for your baby so that you can spend more time with all of them, not just the sick one.

All that being said, many times "failure" is an overstatment to make a point. You want to avoid that sort of hyperbole in the future on this list as it confuses things! Its also good to examine, if you've still been pretty engaged but just dropped academic stuff, why that leaves you feeling like a failure. It may help to read a bit on deschooling:

http://sandradodd.com/deschooling

>>"They" are doing great, but I have nothing for the portfolios

That may not be true, but if you're expecting "learning" to look like subjects and worksheets, you won't see it. Here are some pages on "unschooling curriculum" that may help you see what your kids really *are* doing and learning, and give you ideas how to present that to the powers that be:

http://sandradodd.com/unschoolingcurriculum.html

---Meredith